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Today we have a Sony TC-800B to take apart. This is a portable Reel-to-Reel recorder is from the late 60's or very early 70's and is the same device that was used to record the watergate tapes. Unlike the TEAC 360S I took apart last week, this machine was very easy to take apart.

The one I came across even had a carrying case, you might notice that the handle is crooked. This thing was somewhat busted up, if you look closely you can see through the window in the case that the plastic covering the reels is cracked too:

Sometime last year I started kicking myself for missing the mass exodus of the card catalog. I came to the obvious realization that these giant dressers full of small drawers would be perfect for storing small tools and parts. Not only do they have a nice size but they're built like tanks, they're meant to be opened and closed all day long after all.

Well I finally have one, and it has been converted ever so slightly to be usable for storage.

It is on the small side, with only six drawers:

All that was really needed was to cut some rectangles from a sheet of hardboard and tack them in place with hot glue:

I can't complain about the results though, I still need to make new labels though:

Usually I treat taking something apart like a puzzle. It is strangely satisfying to have something come apart nicely without resorting to brute force and wire cutters.

This cassette deck didn't provide that satisfaction. It got to the point where I was taking out every screw I could find hoping something would budge. To make matters worse it was greased up in places so by the end it looked like I may have been working on a car instead of taking apart a piece of consumer electronics.

The reward were some swanky dB meters and a pile of switches, so it was certainly worth it.

As you can see, this was scrap so there was no guilt when it came to gutting it:

Occasionally while tossing a scrap into the discard pile it occurs to me that the scrap is composed of multiple pieces, and that I could throw multiple scraps into the discard pile instead of just one.

That is what happened while I was throwing the broken LCD Screen + Digitizer from my GPS Screen Replacement project. From the get go this was obviously a bad idea, evident by the shattered glass. I've also taken LCDs apart in the past and know that the only piece of real interest is the polarized sheets glued to the glass, those sheets are a pain to get off so that wouldn't even be fun.

Regardless I opened it up and have slivers of glass stuck in my arm some sort of badge of honor:

When I came across this clock the first thing I noticed was that it was branded an "AM-FM DIGITAL CLOCK". This wouldn't be unusual except that there wasn't a single digital component in site, not even an LED. This is a classic "flip" clock with impressive mechanical properties that we would barely consider digital today. Not only that, but twisting the various knobs provide satisfying mechanical clunks and ticks! The thing makes a lot of noise though, so it wasn't approved for use as my nightstand clock.

The internal components of this are very similar to the clock used in the movie "Groundhog Day". Thanks to this clip I can say the actual flip mechanism is probably identical.

Here it is, in all its digital glory. Take note of the bug lodged behind the plastic - this beautiful device is dirty:

This is how I replaced the LCD in a fairly new Garmin GPS device. The thing is not designed to be consumer serviced so it was a huge pain - likewise I couldn't find any information from other people who have been through the ordeal. Everything begins on ebay, where there were several vendors selling replacement LCD's. Be sure to get an LCD + Digitizer combination, it is likely to cost somewhere between $30 and $60.

Will Winder is a software developer. In his four years of study at UNH he took variety of advanced Computer Science courses including Object Oriented Design, Computer Networks, Artificial Intelligence and Compiler Design. He has been working professionally using C, C++ and Java since graduating in 2006. In his free time he continues to expand his skills by involving himself in many projects, some of which can be seen on this blog.